May 1, 2016 UPDATE

Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers worldwide celebrate Easter/ President Klaus Iohannis pays a visit to the Romanian troops stationed at the Kandahar military base in Afghanistan/The new UCC comes into force across Europe, as of May 1

Newsroom, 01.05.2016, 12:20

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 Romania’s 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 Romania’s 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.

VISIT -
The presence of Romanian troops on the theatre of operations in Afghanistan
comes as Romania’s firm response to NATO’s request to ensure that country’s
security and stability, says Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis. The head of
state on Sunday visited the Romanian troops stationed at the military base in
Kandahar and celebrated Easter together. In a speech to the military, President
Iohannis underlined that Afghanistan is, for the North Atlantic Alliance, the
main battlefront against terrorism. He added that the reconstruction of that
country entails long-term efforts, fully assumed by the international
community. The Romanian President also met with brigadier general Antonio
Aguto, commander, Train, Advise, Assist Command – South, in Afghanistan. The
talks between the two officials underlined the excellent level of cooperation
between Romanian and US troops in the new common missions, focussed on
providing assistance and training the Afghan security forces.

NEW UCC -
The main customs formalities will be simplified as of May 1, following the
enforcement of the new Union Customs Code across the EU. The code sets common
and streamlined procedures in all EU member states, to make life simpler for
businesses doing trade in Europe. The same rules apply regardless of where in
the EU the goods are declared and once the goods have cleared customs in a
member state, they can circulate freely or be sold anywhere within the EU
customs territory, that is in any of the 28 member states. Furthermore, the use of
IT &C becomes mandatory. 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.

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. The revocation comes against the
backdrop of the Bucharest National Opera scandal, which was generated by
general discontent about successive nominations at the top management of the
institution and about salary disparities between Romanian and foreign ballet
dancers. Protests led to the cancellation of three performances and prompted
Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos to demand Vlad Alexandrescu’s resignation. In
several Facebook posts and articles in the press, Vlad Alexandrescu claims he
had to leave office because he had reportedly disturbed various groups of
interests, such as those in Rosia Montana, which he added on the country’s
tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. The Prime Minister said he hadn’t
been briefed on the problems Vlad Alexandrescu claims to have been faced with,
and promised to request the new culture minister to go ahead with the reforms
started by his/her predecessor.

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.

ROYAL FAMILY – 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, attended the special Easter mass at the Romanian Orthodox
Bishopric and met 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.

BUCHAREST CITY TOUR – The Bucharest Public Transport Utility, RATB, on Sunday 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 Romania’s capital city.

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.

(Translated by Diana Vijeu)