April 23, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

România Internațional, 23.04.2022, 19:11

EASTER — Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers in Romania are preparing for Easter Sunday. The Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem performed the Holy Fire ceremony, at the tomb of Jesus Christ and shared the Holy Light with the faithful. For Orthodox believers, the Holy Fire is a miracle that occurs every year at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, on Great Saturday. The Holy Fire from Jerusalem is brought to Romania every year on Saturday evening, to be shared to believers at midnight. In its Easter Message, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church urged believers to pray for the end of the war in Ukraine and to help the refugees. He also called on Romanians around the borders and in the Diaspora to love and support each other.

MESSAGE — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis conveyed a message to the Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Armenian and neo-Protestant believers who celebrate Easter. ”The celebration of the Holy Easter brings us together around the Ressurection of Jesus Christ, whether we are at home or far from the ones that we carry in our hearts,” Iohannis said. He also said that ”these days, our thoughts go to our Ukrainian neighbours, whose pain we try to ease by making them feel welcome and supported.” In his Easter message, Patriarch Daniel of the Romania Orthodox Church urged Christians to pray for an end to the war in Ukraine and to help the Ukrainian refugees.

QUAKE — One person died and several others were injured after a 5.6 magnitude quake stroke southern Bosnia on Friday evening. Further minor earthquakes followed, officials and the media reported on Saturday. The main earthquake was felt throughout Bosnia, but also along the coast of neighbouring Croatia, Montenegro, and Albania.

UKRAINE — All cities under Ukrainian control in the eastern region of Luhansk were constantly being shelled by Russian forces on Saturday and the barrage was intensifying, the regions governor Serhiy Haidai said, according to Reuters. The port-city of Odessa, in the south, was under missile attack on Saturday, local sources report. The Russian army denies attacks on civilian targets. British intelligence said the Russian forces did not make significant progress in the last 24 hours in spite heavy bombings, as the Ukrainian response makes their mission difficult. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday evening that the allies are finally delivering the weapons requested by Kyiv. PM Denys Smyhal, who has travelled to the US, voiced confidence his country, would win the war. The Pentagon has announced it is preparing for next week a meeting of defence ministers from dozens of countries, some of which are not NATO members, to discuss Ukraine’s immediate and long term defence needs.

REFUGEES — The Romanian Border Police announced that around 6,700 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania on Friday, down 11% as against the day before. Around 77,000 Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania since the start of the war in Ukraine, of whom less than 10% stayed in the country.

TRANSDNIESTER – Moldova’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian Ambassador in Chisinau to give explanations over some statements made by an official of the Russian army. According to Radio Chisinau, General Rustam Minnekaev said that Russian forces plan to take full control of the Denbas region and southern Ukraine, so Russia ‘can create another way out to’ the breakaway region of Trans-Ddniester. The Moldovan Foreign Ministry deems these statements as ungrounded and in contradiction to Russia’s stand of supporting Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, within internationally recognised borders. Trans-Dniester has not been under Moldova’s control since 1992, following an armed conflict in which Russian forces supported the separatists.

SPORT – Romania’s national polo team defeated Germany 6-5 on Saturday at home, in the last match of Group A of the Men’s European U19 Water Polo Championship’s preliminaries. The two teams had already been qualified to the final tournament, Romania ranking first in the gorup. Also on Saturday, Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea lost the match against Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the semi-finals of the WTA 250 Istanbul tournament. In the other semi-final Russian Anastasia Potapova defeated Yulia Putintseva. (EE)