May 1, 2016
Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers the world over celebrate Easter/ Romanias Crown Princess Margareta is meeting with members of the Romanian community in Sweden/ The new UCC comes into force across Europe, as of today
Valentin Țigău, 01.05.2016, 12:00
EASTER – Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers worldwide are celebrating Easter, or the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In his Easter message, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel, said the Resurrection of Christ is symbolical of the triumph of love, which renders our lives meaningful. The high prelate also mentioned the Romanians who live outside the borders of the country, saying “Let us not forget, in our prayers, those who live far from the country, longing for home. We are waiting for all of them to return to the country for good, because many of Romanias localities are sad and helpless without them. Our villages are getting old. Many children grow up without their parents and many old people are helpless without their sons and daughters who live far away, the patriarch also underlined at the Patriarchal Cathedral, during the Easter mass, which was also attended by Romanias President Klaus Iohannis and his wife. According to a poll, 68% of the Romanians believe Easter should be celebrated simultaneously by Orthodox and Catholic believers.
ROYAL FAMILY – Romanias Crown Princess Margareta and Prince Radu, alongside officials and members of other European Royal Houses, on Saturday 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, attend the special Easter mass at the Romanian Orthodox Bishopric and meet with members of the Romanian community. This is the third official visit abroad by Romanias 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 main customs formalities will be simplified as of today, following the enforcement of the new Union Customs Code across the EU. The code sets common and harmonised procedures in all EU member states, to make life simpler for businesses doing trade in Europe. Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs said: An efficient EU Customs Union facilitates trade while at the same time enforcing necessary rules for security, safety and intellectual property rights. The new Union Customs Code opens the door to new state-of-the-art IT systems that will provide fast and quality data on goods being traded and will allow extremely close coordination among the administrations of our Member States, a press release issued by the European Commission writes. The Customs Union is unique in the world and is essential for the proper functioning of the Single Market. The new UCC reflects a move towards a more modern customs environment for EU countries, making European business more competitive and advancing the EU Strategy for growth and jobs. The use of IT &C will become a rule. 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.
PAY RISE – Over one million one hundred thousand Romanian employees will receive a pay rise worth 200 lei (some 50 Euros), as of May 1st, following a government decision adopted at the end of 2015, which increased the minimum wage from 1,050 lei to 1,250 lei.
NATIONAL OPERA ROW – Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos on Tuesday will send to President Klaus Iohannis the proposal to revoke Vlad Alexandrescu from the position of culture minister and to nominate another person at the helm of that institution. Vlad Alexandrescu seems to have lost his portfolio following the scandal which broke out at the Bucharest National Opera House. Romanian artists, old time employees of that institution, have done everything they could to remove from the institution the group of foreign ballet dancers brought to the Bucharest Opera House, a couple of years ago, by choreographer Johan Kobborg
BOXING – Romanian Lucian Bute faced Swedish boxer Badou Jack in Washington on Sunday morning for the WBC super middleweight belt, the oldest and most prestigious belt in boxing. The match ended in a draw. In such a situation, the belt is kept by the defending world super middleweight champion, Badou Jack. Lucian Bute, 36, is the former super middleweight champion in the IBF version. He successfully defended his title nine times, for nearly four years and a half. Jack Badou, 32, defended his WBC belt for the second time.
BUCHAREST CITY TOUR – The Bucharest Public Transport Utility, RATB, has today reactivated the “Bucharest City Tour tourist line. Four double deckers will take the tour of the city and of its main tourist objectives. The buses are equipped with audio-guides in Romanian, English, French and Italian. A ticket costs 25 lei (approximately 5 Euros) for adults and 10 lei (around 2 Euros and 20 cents) for children in the 7-14 year age bracket. The travel pass can be purchased on the bus and can be used all day long, for tourists to be able to visit all tourist attractions in Romanias capital city.
(Translated by Diana Vijeu)
