June 6, 2019

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 06.06.2019, 13:54

ASCENSION Orthodox Christians, who are a majority in Romania, and Eastern
Catholics are today celebrating Ascension Day, which marks the moment Jesus literally
ascended into heaven before his disciples, at the village of Bethany, near
Jerusalem. Since 1920, after WWI, Romanians have also been celebrating their
heroes on this very day. Religious services and military parades are being
staged all over Romania on this occasion. In a message conveyed today, the
country’s Prime Minister Viorica Dancila has said that Heroes’ Day is dedicated
not only to those who died in the wars of the past centuries, but to those who
devoted their lives to the motherland and its people – the heroes and martyrs
of the communist prisons, those who died fighting the communist regime in
Romania, in the anti-communist revolution of December 1989, as well as the
Romanian servicemen who died in various operation theatres around the world.

WEATHER A yellow warning for weather instability and heavy
rainfalls, which has been issued for almost half of Romania’s territory, is valid
until Friday night. Large areas in the country’s south-west, west, north and
centre are expected to see extreme weather phenomena, such as thunderstorms,
gale-force wind and hail. Maximum temperatures are ranging between 22 and 30
degrees Celsius with a noon reading in Bucharest of 25 degrees. Yellow and
orange warnings for flooding have been issued for the Danube, which are valid
for the following two weeks. According to official data, 160 towns and villages
in 28 Romanian counties as well as capital Bucharest have been affected by the
latest heavy downpours. Landslides have temporarily disrupted traffic on
several national and county roads.

INITIATIVE Slovenia is these days hosting
the fourth edition of the Three Seas Initiative Summit – a political platform
at presidential level, which brings together the 12 EU members located between
the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic and the Black Sea. Romania is represented by its
president Klaus Iohannis, who on Wednesday in Ljubljana underlined the
importance of the fact that this initiative had attracted other valuable
partners like the USA, the EU and Germany. The summit’s plenary session, which
is due in Brdo on Thursday, is expected to focus on the implementation of a list
of major interconnection projects agreed upon last year. Also high on the summit’s
agenda are ways of making the Initiative’s Investment Fund fully operational as
well as the interconnectivity of the region’s trade chambers. The second
edition of the Initiative’s business forum, which is to be held on the summit’s
sidelines, is expected to be focusing on investment in economy, transport
connections, energy infrastructure, environmental protection and digital
communications.

FOOTBALL Romania’s football side is in Norway where it will be up
against the local selection in a match counting towards Group F of the European
Championship preliminaries. On Monday, the Romanians will be playing Malta also
in an away match. We recall that so far into the competition, our footballers
lost to Sweden 2-1 in Stockholm in March and secured a 4-1 win at home against
the Faeroe Islands. The first two sides in group F will qualify for the final
tournament. Lots are to be cast for Euro 2020 in Bucharest on November 30th. Romania
will be hosting four games of the final tournament, three in the group’s stage
and one in the round of 16. We recall that also this month, Romania’s under-21
side will be playing in the European Championship in Italy and San Marino. Our
side is part of group C together with England, France and Croatia.

(translated by bill)