May 4, 2024

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 04.05.2024, 14:00

HOLY WEEK – Orthodox and Eastern-Catholic Christians in Romania are making the final preparations ahead of Easter Sunday. Holy Saturday marks the last day of Holy Week and the last day of Lent, a solemn day that ends in the evening with the Easter Vigil. On Saturday, Jerusalem hosts the Holy Fire special service in the Holy Sepulcher, a unique ritual whereby the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem enters the Tomb of Jesus to receive the light of the Resurrection, lit by the Holy Spirit, which he then shares with the faithful. The Holy Light is also expected to reach Romania. In his Easter sermon, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church said that healing the world of passing illnesses was not the ultimate design of Jesus Christ, but rather saving mankind from sin and death. The Patriarch urged Romanians to pursue good deeds. In turn, Cardinal Lucian of the Eastern-Catholic Church said that, although temptation is always lurking due to passion, evil, conflict, violence, breaches of human dignity or freedom, the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord strengthens our faith and kindles a hope that no one and nothing can destroy. The high-ranking Eastern-Catholic cleric also said that intellectual creativity and technological progress, including artificial intelligence, should be put to good use with the observance of ethical standards, in order to make society more humane and change it for the better.

FRANCE – ROMANIA COOPERATION – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminița Odobescu, on Friday had a bilateral meeting with the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné. Talks focused on the robustness of bilateral dialogue, the close diplomatic cooperation between Bucharest and Paris regarding European topics, as well as a mutual desire to advance cooperation at both bilateral and European levels. The two foreign ministers agreed to continue joint efforts to consolidate the Strategic Agenda with a view to promoting the European project and boost resilience at EU level. Minister Odobescu thanked France for its remarkable contribution to the consolidation of the NATO Eastern Flank and for taking on the role of a framework nation in the NATO Battlegroup deployed to Romania. In addition, the Romanian official expressed gratitude for France’s growing interest in the Black Sea region, particularly in the context of Russia’s acts of aggression against Ukraine and regional challenges generated by the conflict. The two ministers highlighted the need to continue to provide multidimensional support to Ukraine and to coordinate actions to help the Republic of Moldova, a country faced with multiple security threats from the Russian Federation.

WAR IN UKRAINE – Russia on Friday night launched a massive drone attack on Kharkiv and Dnipro regions, wounding at least six people and hitting critical infrastructure, commercial and residential buildings, regional officials announced on Saturday. According to the Ukrainian Air Forces, Russia launched 13 Shahed drones, targeting regions in northeastern and central Ukraine. Local air defenses shot down all the drones, the commander of Ukrainian air forces announced. In another development, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said that energy supplies have been covered in the last 24 hours using domestic energy production, energy imports, as well as emergency energy aid delivered by Romania, Poland and Slovakia.

ATTACK – Poland too announced it was targeted by alleged Russian cyber-attacks, which may also have been directed against Germany and Czechia, Reuters reports. Warsaw expressed solidarity with the two countries in light of the cyber-attacks targeting democratic institutions and political parties, the Polish Foreign Ministry said in a press release. Germany too accused Russia on Friday of launching cyber-attacks against the Social-Democratic Party in power, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and local defense and airspace companies, but also targets from other countries, warning the attack will not remain without consequence.

LIFE EXPECTANCY – Spain has the highest life expectancy rate at EU level – 84 years, above the EU average of 81.5 years. According to a Eurostat report, Romania has the third-lowest life expectancy in the EU, 76.6 years, followed only by Latvia with 75.9 years and Bulgaria with 75.8 years. However, the biggest increase in life expectancy rates across the EU over 2019-2023 was reported in Romania. 15 of the 27 EU Member States exceed the EU life expectancy average. Countries with lower rates are those in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, whereas countries in the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and Central Europe have higher life expectancy rates.

HANDBALL – The Romanian women’s champions, CSM Bucharest, are today taking on Metz of France away from home in the return leg of the EHF Champions League quarterfinals. In the first leg Metz won 27-24 in Bucharest. In men’s handball, Dinamo Bucharest has qualified to the EHF European League Final Four, where it will play SG Flesburg Handewitt of Germany. In the other semi-final, Fuchse Berlin, the defending champions, will go up against Rhein-Nekar Loewen in an all-German match. The Final Four tournament is hosted by Hamburg over May 25-26. (VP)