June 19, 2016

Heavy rainfalls, hailstorms in southern and eastern Romania; German President Gauck to visit Romania

Newsroom, 19.06.2016, 00:00

WEATHER — The heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms caused problems last night in eastern and southern Romania. Houses were flooded, trees fell on the roads blocking traffic, and hailstorms destroyed crops and homes. Tens of people have been evacuated. After the extreme heat of the past few days, a code-yellow warning against heavy rains and hailstorms was issued for the west, south-west and centre of the country. Code-orange flood alerts are also in place for rivers in 11 counties, most of them in eastern Romania.

VISIT — The President of Germany, Joachim Gauck, with be on an official three-day visit to Romania as of Monday. In Bucharest, he will have a meeting with President Klaus Iohannis and PM Dacian Cioloş and will give an address at the National Library. On Tuesday, the two presidents will travel to Sibiu, in central Romania, a city founded by Saxon colonists in the 14th Century. Sibiu is also the home town of President Klaus Iohannis, a German ethnic himself, who was the mayor there for 14 years. On Wednesday the Romanian and German heads of state will attend a meeting with Romanian and German business people.

HOLIDAYS — More than 22,000 Interior Ministry employees are to ensure public order in Romania during the Pentecost holiday which ends on Monday night. Some 40,000 tourists are already in Romanian seaside resorts, where most accommodation facilities are fully booked. A growing number of hotels have added spa and treatment facilities to their offers. Other Romanians took advantage of the three-day holiday to go to mountain resorts.

DIASPORA — The Minister Delegate for relations with the Romanian diaspora, Dan Stoenescu, had a meeting yesterday with members of the Romanian community in the Netherlands. According to the Foreign Ministry, the Romanian official encouraged the involvement of Romanian associations, jointly with the Dutch and Romanian authorities, in awareness raising campaigns focusing on the rights and obligations of the Romanian citizens residing in the Netherlands. Stoenescu also emphasised the importance of the Romanian-Dutch cooperation in organising joint events to promote inter-cultural dialogue. Minister Dan Stoenescu had previously had a meeting with members of the Romanian community in Brussels.

LA BLOUSE ROUMAINE — The Mayor of the US capital city, Washington, Ms Muriel Bowser, proclaimed June 24th as the Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse in Washington, in response to an initiative of the Romanian Embassy in the USA. The Romanian blouse has been acknowledged as an international symbol of Romanian culture and a source of inspiration for major designers. Initiated and coordinated by the online community called “La Blouse Roumaine,” the International Day of the Romanian Blouse is aimed at promoting a Romanian tradition and at creating a country brand recognised around the world. The Romanian blouse is a white shirt, part of the traditional folk costume of Romanian women, and is richly embroidered with folk motifs.

PENTECOST – Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians in Romania and across the world continue to celebrate the three-day feast of the Pentecost, marking 50 days from Easter and the foundation of the Christian Church. This feast day refers to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ, who could thus spread the gospels in languages they could not speak before. On the same day, with St. Peter’s fervent proclamation, some 3,000 people converted to Christianity, making up the first Christian community in Jerusalem, the core of the future Christian Church.

NAMASTE INDIA — The Romanian Peasant Museum in Bucharest hosted, between June 17 and 19, the NAMASTE INDIA Festival, celebrating Indian culture in Romania. the Festival included a variety of events, from introductory language courses to henna painting workshops, and from yoga classes to documentary film screenings. On Sunday, the closing day, a sari parade was followed by traditional music and dance performances.

FOOTBALL — Romania plays tonight in Lyon against Albania, in its last match in Group A of the European football championship in France, concurrently with the match between the host country’s team and Switzerland. The two matches will decide the teams that qualify into the eighth-finals of the competition. With 6 points in 2 games, France is the group leader and has already secured its qualification. Switzerland has 4 points, Romania 1, and Albania none. This is the first time in the European championship when 24 teams take part, and qualifying in the next rounds are not only the first two teams in each group, but also four teams ranking third in their respective groups.

RUGBY — Romania’s national rugby team defeated Argentina B, 20-8, in Bucharest on Saturday night, in the final match of the last stage of the World Rugby Nations Cup. In the previous games, the Romanians had outplayed Namibia, 20-8, and Uruguay, 40-0. Romania thus won the trophy of this competition for the fourth time. Ten of the 11 editions of World Rugby Nations Cup have been held in Romania so far.

(translated by: Ana Maria Popescu)